Bill Simmons NBA Trade Value Rankings 2009

[Admin]

http://sports.espn.go.com/espn/page2/story...=simmons/090212

Group I: "Cost-Effective Building Blocks"

32. Al Horford

Quality young forward with great contracts on winning teams. But you never know about the young'uns. Take it from the guy who once proclaimed that young Amare Stoudemire was the second coming of Moses Malone.

Group H: "You'll Have To Bowl Us Over, But We're Listening"

28. Josh Smith

Tailed off less than expected after inking that worrisome $58 million extension ... although he's the captain of the 2009 "Why The Hell Are You Shooting 3s?" All-Stars, missing 41 of 54 this season (24 percent) and missing 324-for-438 for his career (26 percent). But by all means, Josh, keep chucking 'em up like you're paying three shots for a dollar at one of those amusement park hoops with the tiny rims. You might win that stuffed animal yet!

Group F: "We'll Discuss Him, But You Can't Tell ANYONE"

21. Joe Johnson

Peaked as a scorer two seasons ago (25.0 ppg., 47 percent FG), but his assists are up, he has been stepping up in crunch time and his team is headed for 50 wins despite losing Josh Childress and whiffing on the Acie Law pick. Joe Johnson, I'm proud of you. Your team shouldn't be this good.

[mrhonline]

Seems someone hasn't seen a Hawks' game in a few months...

[crimedog]

Seems someone hasn't seen a Hawks' game in a few months...

Honestly, outside of that Cs series I'm not sure BS ever watched or watches the Hawks. In the podcast he said he was suprised Horford wasn't putting up 19-10. Its ambitious to try and get a good grasp of every team in the league and Simmons writes about other sports occasionally (as opposed to Hollinger who literally does watch every game and then writes an analysis of every player but only has to keep up with roundball) but you'd think he'd TiVo some stuff from all the teams in the league so he can at least write the column with some relevant info.

[MrRyda]

Well, he may never watch the Hawks, but he's sure spot-on about Josh and his threes.

[FrankWhite]

Simmons has been garbage for a long time. Remember, he had that ridiculous theory that Josh would dog it for several months in order to get Woody fired. Now that that hasn't panned out, he'll go after Smith for the 3s thing, which is legit, but he's never said this before and it isn't a new phenomenon.

The JJ thing is full of backhanded compliments. He picked us to miss the playoffs preseason. Hey, maybe instead of saying, "Joe Johnson, you've worked miracles in making your team a legitimate playoff team," he should say, "You know what? I was wrong and the Hawks are better overall than I predicted." Douche.

[gsuteke]

I would have thought Bibby had alot of trade value for 2 reason.

1. He can contribute at a high level right now. He's not just a fat expiring contract.

2. He's a fat expiring contract.

[frosgrim]

Simmons has been garbage for a long time. Remember, he had that ridiculous theory that Josh would dog it for several months in order to get Woody fired. Now that that hasn't panned out, he'll go after Smith for the 3s thing, which is legit, but he's never said this before and it isn't a new phenomenon.

The JJ thing is full of backhanded compliments. He picked us to miss the playoffs preseason. Hey, maybe instead of saying, "Joe Johnson, you've worked miracles in making your team a legitimate playoff team," he should say, "You know what? I was wrong and the Hawks are better overall than I predicted." Douche.

LOL- mutch truth here

Congrats on post #200!

[macdaddy]

As much as i'm always complaining about Woody I have to agree with the sentiment that this team shouldn't be this good. You look at our talent level compared to a team like Chicago and Phx and it doesn't seem comparable. But we are as better than those two teams. I mean we are about 1 game back from being the 4th seed in the WEST. Wins and losses we are right there with Dallas, Houston, New Orleans, Portland, and Utah. If you would have told me that at the beginning of the year i wouldn't have believed it. This is with only one truly versatile offensive weapon. Nice going Hawks.

[uga2006]

As much as i'm always complaining about Woody I have to agree with the sentiment that this team shouldn't be this good. You look at our talent level compared to a team like Chicago and Phx and it doesn't seem comparable. But we are as better than those two teams. I mean we are about 1 game back from being the 4th seed in the WEST. Wins and losses we are right there with Dallas, Houston, New Orleans, Portland, and Utah. If you would have told me that at the beginning of the year i wouldn't have believed it. This is with only one truly versatile offensive weapon. Nice going Hawks.

Actually our talent level is pretty deep and I feel the complete opposite. How is PHX better than us? Over the hill Nash and Shaq, Amare plays no defense and only grabs 8 boards yet he's 6'10 and super athletic? Chicago has Rose and what?

Our starting 5 is as talented as any starting 5 while 3/5 of it are under 25. Another big reason to be optimistic about the future as long as Sund locks these guys up.

[Vol4ever]

I'm not to big on the Rose hype. Looks like to me he is going to be a scoring gunner type of PG.

[crimedog]

Simmons has been garbage for a long time. Remember, he had that ridiculous theory that Josh would dog it for several months in order to get Woody fired. Now that that hasn't panned out, he'll go after Smith for the 3s thing, which is legit, but he's never said this before and it isn't a new phenomenon.

The JJ thing is full of backhanded compliments. He picked us to miss the playoffs preseason. Hey, maybe instead of saying, "Joe Johnson, you've worked miracles in making your team a legitimate playoff team," he should say, "You know what? I was wrong and the Hawks are better overall than I predicted." Douche.

Yeah, when Simmons decides on something he'll hammer it out until he's proven irrevocably wrong. He holds grudges and stuff too. You read that thing and it's absolutely filled with anti-Beasley stuff, the thing is though, Beasley as a rookie is probably better than Durant as a rookie. Certainly more efficient and better at defense/rebounding, he just plays fewer minutes because his coach can't afford to have too much "on the job learning" like Durant had last season with his -15 defensive point differential.

[Duff_Man]

Well, he did have a point at the beginning of the season. Flip Murray has panned out WAY better than expected (probably thanks to a 1-year deal), and nobody could have seen that coming. Evans has been a pretty good glue guy as well. Had those signings gone the other way, we'd be further towards the bottom.

As far as Josh, I dog him a lot because I don't see a whole world of effort all the time. I want him to make the leap into a stud, but his brain seems to get in the way of his talent, and vice-versa. I am really hoping it is his ankle hampering him. His block numbers and FT shooting are way down this year, and it is alarming (at least to me). Of course, he usually has a better second half, so I'll still be cheering him on, even through the head-scratching.

[Admin]

Actually our talent level is pretty deep and I feel the complete opposite. How is PHX better than us? Over the hill Nash and Shaq, Amare plays no defense and only grabs 8 boards yet he's 6'10 and super athletic? Chicago has Rose and what?

Our starting 5 is as talented as any starting 5 while 3/5 of it are under 25. Another big reason to be optimistic about the future as long as Sund locks these guys up.

Our starting 5 is certainly talented and I'd put it in the top 10 in the league for certain. It's arguable how high in the top 10 we are but if I have time later today I'll try and put together an average PER for the starting 5 of every team in the league and see where we rank.

• #6 - We have a pretty solid 6th man candidate in Flip.
  
• #7 - Medium Z is one of the best rebounding and scoring backup 5's in the league ... but his defense is pretty weak.
  
• #8 - Evans as a backup 2 would be in the upper half of the league for backup 2's ... but unfortunately we play him at the 3 where he's undersized. How is it that we get nailed for drafting too many wings (primarily SF's) and we really only have 1 true SF (Marvin) on our entire roster and even he was a college/high school PF?
  
• #9 - Acie should be among the better backup PG's in the league, but he rarely gets to play and even when he does it's not always at the point.
  
• #10 - Solo should probably be the 3rd PF or C for us (11th/12th man) so this is where we really start to get weak.
  

[LOL_Hawks]

21. Joe Johnson

Peaked as a scorer two seasons ago (25.0 ppg., 47 percent FG), but his assists are up, he has been stepping up in crunch time and his team is headed for 50 wins despite losing Josh Childress and whiffing on the Acie Law pick. Joe Johnson, I'm proud of you. Your team shouldn't be this good.

And this is why we are either the most disrespected or most underrated team in the NBA. We could have 40 wins at this point and there'd still be talk about "Wait...when did the Hawks get 40 wins?"

[uga2006]

Our starting 5 is certainly talented and I'd put it in the top 10 in the league for certain. It's arguable how high in the top 10 we are but if I have time later today I'll try and put together an average PER for the starting 5 of every team in the league and see where we rank.

• #6 - We have a pretty solid 6th man candidate in Flip.
  
• #7 - Medium Z is one of the best rebounding and scoring backup 5's in the league ... but his defense is pretty weak.
  
• #8 - Evans as a backup 2 would be in the upper half of the league for backup 2's ... but unfortunately we play him at the 3 where he's undersized. How is it that we get nailed for drafting too many wings (primarily SF's) and we really only have 1 true SF (Marvin) on our entire roster and even he was a college/high school PF?
  
• #9 - Acie should be among the better backup PG's in the league, but he rarely gets to play and even when he does it's not always at the point.
  
• #10 - Solo should probably be the 3rd PF or C for us (11th/12th man) so this is where we really start to get weak.
  

I'd be interested to see those numbers of the other teams starting 5. Lot of work but if your up for the task more power to you.

[Admin]

I'd be interested to see those numbers of the other teams starting 5. Lot of work but if your up for the task more power to you.

It's going to take a while but for now you can view the top 5-man units in the league via +/- at http://www.82games.com/0809/USORT2.HTM

Our starting 5 of Bibby-Johnson-Williams-Smith-Horford is very low at -10

Our best 5 lineup is Bibby-Johnson-Evans-Smith-Pachulia at +48

For reference the top three 5 man lineups in the league are Boston at +247, Cleveland at +190, and Orlando at +120 (and 5th at +112 depending on their SG).

I don't know how this will translate to average PER by starting lineup but it will be interesting to see.

[Vesper]

Well, he did have a point at the beginning of the season. Flip Murray has panned out WAY better than expected (probably thanks to a 1-year deal), and nobody could have seen that coming. Evans has been a pretty good glue guy as well. Had those signings gone the other way, we'd be further towards the bottom.

As far as Josh, I dog him a lot because I don't see a whole world of effort all the time. I want him to make the leap into a stud, but his brain seems to get in the way of his talent, and vice-versa. I am really hoping it is his ankle hampering him. His block numbers and FT shooting are way down this year, and it is alarming (at least to me). Of course, he usually has a better second half, so I'll still be cheering him on, even through the head-scratching.

I thought Flip was signed for two years?

[crimedog]

It's going to take a while but for now you can view the top 5-man units in the league via +/- at http://www.82games.com/0809/USORT2.HTM

Our starting 5 of Bibby-Johnson-Williams-Smith-Horford is very low at -10

Our best 5 lineup is Bibby-Johnson-Evans-Smith-Pachulia at +48

For reference the top three 5 man lineups in the league are Boston at +247, Cleveland at +190, and Orlando at +120 (and 5th at +112 depending on their SG).

I don't know how this will translate to average PER by starting lineup but it will be interesting to see.

Interesting... wonder why it is that way?

[Duff_Man]

I thought Flip was signed for two years?

I thought it was one. I could be wrong. I wrote that in my car on the phone, so no research went into it. Exodus is probably better suited to answer that one.

[Admin]

I thought it was one. I could be wrong. I wrote that in my car on the phone, so no research went into it. Exodus is probably better suited to answer that one.

Flip is signed through this year for 1.5 million. He'll be an FA after this season.

As always you can check the Hawks and other teams salaries by using the links in the "Links" menu in the blue bar up top :computer8: